Gastonia loses planned VA health care center to Charlotte

Just a few years ago, Gaston County veterans had reason to believe a medical clinic to serve their needs would be built right in their own backyard.

Those hopes have all but dissipated, as the proposed Gastonia center will instead be placed in Charlotte. But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says it will still be a boon for local vets by providing a closer option for health care.

“It will be big news when it opens,” said Bruce Sprecher, spokesman for the Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network.

In 2004, Veterans Affairs announced plans for three new clinics, including a 10,000-square-foot center in Gastonia that was to open by 2010. By 2007, the local clinic had fallen off the radar, and officials said the Gastonia site wouldn’t open before 2012, if at all.

The economic decline of 2008 further prompted the federal agency to reshuffle its priorities.

Gaston veterans generally have to drive to Salisbury, Asheville, Fayetteville and Winston-Salem to get medical care for different conditions. Many try to schedule appointments together so they can share rides to the more distant sites.

A 10,000 square-foot clinic in Charlotte offers limited care. A 52-000-square foot outpatient VA clinic opened several years ago off W.T. Harris Boulevard near UNC Charlotte, easing some of the strain.

Last fall, Veterans Affairs announced plans to build three new health care centers in Charlotte, Fayetteville and Kernersville. That actually represents a coup for the state, Sprecher said.

Gaston County has an estimated 29,000 veterans, said Gaston County Veterans Services Administrator Kurt Geske. About 17,000 of those are in the Veterans Affairs system because they have applied for VA benefits, and can therefore be treated at VA medical centers.

The health care center model essentially involves building hospitals, without inpatient services. Except for that absent feature, the Charlotte operation will provide 80 to 90 percent of what the average veteran needs, Sprecher said.

“It will provide a number of specialty services, and pretty much everything a normal hospital provides, including ambulatory service,” he said. “They won’t do heart and knee replacements, but surely they can take care of the majority of traffic that now has to go to Salisbury.”

The Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury is about 60 miles away from Gastonia. A site for the new Charlotte health care center has yet to be announced, but it will likely be less than half as far away for local veterans.

“It’s an intermediary hub,” said Sprecher. “Knowing you will never satisfy everybody, you try to put it in the epicenter of the region you’re drawing from.”

Once Veterans Affairs settles on a site, construction would probably take about two years, meaning the new center could open in 2015, he said.

“It’s really pretty phenomenal that we’re even looking at these things in today’s budget scenario,” said Sprecher. “The Charlotte center will be around 300,000 square feet. It’ll be good for the entire (veterans) population.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.